Birkenstock Birko Arch Support-Sport, Blue 1, 44 (US Women's 13-13.5, US Men's 11-11.5) Medium

tl;dr - The comfort of Birkenstocks without the ugliness. Highly recommended.Several years ago, I began having foot problems. I tried every type on insole imaginable but the pain persisted. that was until I purchased my first set of Birkenstock clogs. Within weeks, my foot pain was gone, and they were sooooo comfortable. I wore them all year around (even in the snow) and had them re-soled many times. Unfortunately, I wasn't so kind with the leather uppers and they eventually had to go. R.I.P, the most comfortable footwear ever......then I found these, and now every pair of shoes can offer Birkenstock quality and comfort. Birks are great for your feet, but, they'll never win a beauty pageant as they are extremely unattractive. Now I can wear whatever I want - dress shoes, sneakers, boat shoes, etc. and they're all equally as comfortable. I am considering the purchase another set so that I don't have to swap them out between different pairs of shoes. Thank you Birkenstock.

These make my regular shoes feel so good and really help my plantar fasciitis pain. They’re expensive, so for now I plan to shift the one pair between shoes. But I wish I hadn’t wasted money on all the other inserts!

In the past 5 years I have most likely spent about $300 on arch supports. Yes, I have flat feet. I got these today and they appear to work rather well. Much better than 90% of the ones I have tossed out or are in my drawer waiting to be tossed out. As an amateur expert on these things let me suggest a few ideas.I prefer full shoe inserts. The half ones have a certain logic in terms of giving your toes more room, but the ball of your foot and inner pad also need support. These are the full length. These are unusual to me because they have a hard bottom shape and a soft rubber top. They seem awkward at first, but after wearing them most of the day I noticed a real sense of support in a pair of basketball shoes.If you are still with me I have some buying suggestions. Look at the shoes you plan to put these into and use the euro number - not the American size. Your shoes may have a range so pick something in the middle. Buy the one that best describes your foot - high arch, normal or flat. Here is the "secret". This insert will fill up the shoe or sneaker near the toes and push the foot up into the top of the shoe. Most of them do this. Don't wear inserts with jammed up feet. Next: if you don't have shoes that handle full inserts go to a discount store with name brands at a discount. This is what I do. Take the inserts with you. Tell the clerk. Now, start trying on different designs without and with the insert. Find the design and size that allows room for your toes and the top of your foot. Cramming your feet into a shoe is never a wise thing.I got lucky and found a pair of gray basketball sneakers that accommodated the insert and my foot! Gees! What a difference. I have a pair of boots with high toe room, but I could not remove the glued insert in the boot. No good. Another pair of basketball shoes also did not work. But, the ones that worked did allow me to remove their insert and replace it with this one. Voila! I have a most comfortable pair of shoes.Over the years I have visited a podiatrist twice - completely useless visits. He would recommend some sort of happy feet stuff or other. He was useless. Experiment around. I will say that I have been wrong to expect too much. It is critical to be picky about having reasonable comfort. In my experience if the shoe feels comfortable in the store, it will work. I hate it when someone says, "Oh, those will stretch." Naaa!Yes, you may have to compromise on style and color. The objective is to have comfortable feet. If you do have foot problems I have had great help from exercise. Hold onto 10 lbs and hang your heals out over a board or step. then raise and lower yourself on the balls of your feet. This has certainly helped my balance and walking. There is no free lunch. Compromise. If your feet are not comfortable, keep working at it. One of the most ugly pair of cross trainer sneakers I owned had the best darn arch support. comfort wise they were great. Hardly fashionable looking. No, I did not wear them with a tuxedo. For working out they were awesome until they completely rotted out. Nike stopped making them!!!! so much for great design and lousy look.Hope this helps.A Week Later - Fantastic. The soles have settled into my basketball work out sneakers and my feet are far more comfortable. I have great stability. My plan is to follow my own directions above and get another pair of sneakers. These supports really work for me.

These don't form to your feet like Birks do. They have stayed hard and not broke down at all and I've had them 3 months. They hurt more than help, waste of money.

I bought 4 pairs of these innersoles because like a lot of people Birkenstock sandals were the only shoes I could wear that would support my arch. These innersoles are truly awesome and I even threw out my $1000 custom made orthotics.I have a pair in my hiking boots, dress shoes, work shoes, running shoes and all function really well and support my very fallen arch. They are expensive however, you get what you pay for and these are the best.

I purchased a pair of these 2 part system inserts along with the single blue set- three quarter length.So, here’s my take:The 2 part system has, what I consider now, to be a useless full length thin blue pad. Nothing more than what most athletic shoes come with from the manufacturer. Yes, they do have the toe ridge and a metatarsal rise, but when placing it on top of the cork portion (more on that later) it really becomes redundant in the metatarsal region and, unfortunately for me, makes the fit too tight in almost all of my shoes, when used together.My right foot is slightly longer than my left, nothing unusual, just, that’s the longer of my two feet. When using both the blue pad and the cork 3/4 section, my right foot gets pushed up too much in the toe box and then I have a more painful situation with the bone on my pinkie toe knuckle rubbing the top of the inner shoe lining. If I remove either the blue pad or the cork portion, the fit is better. But, I use these for planters. The heel cushion is necessary.The cork portion does the job by itself. I compared the fit of just the cork portion of this product and the single portion of the Birkenstock blue sport inserts. They are just about the exact same product. The blue product has a silk topping and a support design underneath. The fit is the same, when only using the 3/4 portions.I’m returning the 2 part set because it’s a waste of money. Having the blue full length pad makes the cost about $20 more than just buying the cork 3/4 portions. $50 vs $70.I tried the 3/4 portions in every pair of work shoes and boots I own. Each one fit comfortably with zero toe box pain or discomfort caused by the full length blue padding.You should really compare the full length pad vs the 3/4 portion pad. For me, less is more, especially when it comes to wearing shoes that do not allow for a lot of wiggle room in the front. All of my planters discomfort comes from the heel, so the 3/4 portion of Birkenstock cork do the job. Awesome product. It really does give me the comfort of the sandals in my everyday work wear.